


Drunk Decisions

by ghostanimal



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Alcohol, Drunk confessions, F/M, Romance, underaged drinking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-11
Updated: 2020-10-11
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:15:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26957176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghostanimal/pseuds/ghostanimal
Summary: It's the last week of their high school years, and it's time to make the most of their time left together before they graduate by drinking and partying with the popular kids for once. While Sam struggles to decide whether to stay in Amity Park or go, Danny's also struggling to keep his secret. Danny/Sam
Relationships: Danny Fenton/Sam Manson
Comments: 5
Kudos: 26





	Drunk Decisions

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ghostgothgeek](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghostgothgeek/gifts).



> At some point their junior year, Paulina and Sam basically became besties. This is also basically an old phic phight prompt from ghostgothgeek

"I can't believe we actually convinced you to come," Tucker teased, and Sam made a face at him.

"It's probably the last party of high school. It's reason enough to celebrate," Sam replied dryly.

"Come on, Sam, it's gonna be great!" Danny grinned, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "The alcohol pours freely, we get to hang with the popular kids for once, and as a bonus for you, we only see most of these people again at graduation." Sam raised a concerned eyebrow at him.

"You plan on drinking?" Sam questioned worried. Danny shrugged as he lightly squeezed her to him.

"It's a party, Sam," Danny reminded her. "Why not?" Sam sighed.

"Danny, last time you got drunk, you told the bus driver that you were Danny Phantom. You're just really, really lucky that he didn't believe you because you smelled like a brewery and could barely even speak or walk," Sam pointed out to him.

"Yeah, but this go around, you said your driver was gonna pick us up, right? And we're all just staying at your house?" Danny questioned. Sam gave a low hum and gave a brief nod of confirmation. Her parents and grandma were gone for the next week to visit her cousin's new baby. "There we go! No bus drivers to worry about spilling the beans to! And no parents to lecture us about underage drinking."

"Yeah, but you're going to be around a lot of people, so maybe you should reel it in a bit," Tucker slowly began to back Sam up as they approached the house. They began to hear music faintly playing. "Remember when we went to the Dumpty Humpty concert a few weeks ago? And you got so trashed that you tried to flirt with this one chick there by telling her you were Danny Phantom?"

"I'll be fine, we can just pass it off as drunk talk," Danny waved his hand. He turned around, walking backwards a few steps before stopping on the doorstep of the house. "Come on, guys. This is our last big high school party. We look great, there's going to be good food and music, we never have to see these guys again, and we're all going to have a bomb of a time!"

Sam took a deep sigh as she crossed her arms.

"Fine, but please be careful of how much you drink. You're going to start a trend of telling people your secret when you're drunk if you don't start reeling it in," Sam warned him with a sharp look. Danny shot her a grin.

"It'll be chill!" he promised her.

"It better be," she scowled, and she stepped forward to poke a finger into his chest. "I don't want to have to babysit you all night. Tucker shouldn't have to either. Star's going to be there, and I want to be able to hang out and have a few drinks myself."

"Wait, you're drinking?" Danny asked, bewildered.

"It's a party, Danny," she reminded him, and she pounded loudly on the door. "Why not?"

The door opened, and the host, Dash, opened it. His nose scrunched up a bit as he saw them.

"Hey," his voice deadpanned. Paulina squeezed by them, smiling brightly as she reached out to grab Sam's shoulders.

"Hey girl!" she chirped loudly. Sam gave a half-smile. "Come on, Hannah dyed her hair, and it looks sooo cute! You gotta see!"

In a blink, Sam disappeared into the house with Paulina. Dash stared after them before looking at Danny and Tucker.

"You know she's the only reason you losers can come," Dash told them. Danny shrugged.

"What can I say? At heart, Sam's just really charming and easy to get along with," Danny replied. Dash didn't reply, simply moving off to the side to let the two in.

The party was already pretty populated, multiple familiar faces and several unknown strewn about the house. A few were playing some sort of party game via a game console on the TV, many spectating. Some people were crowded around, getting snacks. From previous visits, Danny knew that the open back door led to a pool, and he could hear a few people swimming. Danny didn't see Sam or Paulina anywhere, but he did see something else of interest.

"Hey, somebody brought vodka," Danny pointed out, and he immediately stepped forward, only to have Tucker stop him with a hand on his shoulder.

"Dude, we just got here. Pace yourself, you got all night," Tucker told him.

"Relax, Tuck. I can handle it," Danny argued lightly, shrugging his friend's hand off.

Danny went to the refreshments table, picking up an opened, but still one-third bottle of vodka. Tucker followed him. The geek stared at the selection before picking up a beer. He opened it and took a drink.

"Holy shit, Fenton," a voice of amazement made Tucker glance over at Danny. His friend was holding a now nearly empty bottle while a few of the A-Listers stared at him in awe.

"You're going to be trashed in an hour, aren't you?" Tucker accused. Danny shrugged as he put the remaining vodka back.

"Give or take."

"Sam's not going to be happy," Tucker warned him.

"She'll probably get pretty drunk herself," Danny protested. "She'll barely even notice."

Tucker gave him a skeptical look as he took another drink of his beer. Danny grabbed a beer himself, opening it and taking a long drink. Tucker scowled.

"Dude, chill," he hissed. "Sam's right, you get too talkative when you drink, you're going to tell everybody."

"God, don't worry so much about me," Danny grumbled, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. He pointed behind Tucker, who followed his gaze. Star was standing with two girl friends, talking excitedly. "Look, there's Star. Bring her a drink and talk to her."

Danny picked up another beer from the table, shoving it in Tucker's hand before pushing him towards the blonde. Tucker glanced skeptically over his shoulder at his friend before standing a little straighter. He made his way to the blonde. Danny smiled as Star seemed happy to see Tucker, accepting his drink and breaking off from her friends to go and sit with him.

He glanced at the table. With a long gulp, he finished off the beer he had before picking up three more cans. He made his way through the house, scanning carefully before he finally found who he was looking for. Paulina and Sam were sitting on the back deck on an outside couch, leaned back and against each other as Paulina was showing Sam something on her phone. The odd pair of friends were chatting away happily.

"Hey, Sam," Danny called out. The girls stopped to look up at him. He held up the drinks, handing them over. Sam smiled as she reached forward to take two, passing one to Paulina.

"Oh, what a gentleman," Paulina praised, accepting it. "Danny, come sit with us." She motioned for him to sit on the other side of Sam.

"Whatcha ladies up to?" Danny asked, plopping next to Sam. He shifted close to see what was on the phone. Paulina immediately hid the phone from him.

"It's a girl thing," she insisted, and she slipped her phone into her shorts pocket.

"What kind of girl thing?" Danny wanted to know.

"The kind of thing you can worry about when you finally take Sam out on a date," Paulina told him. Sam lightly shoved Paulina, who just giggled. Paulina opened her beer and sipped it.

"What?" Danny asked, staring at them. Sam's cheeks flushed a bit. "I don't get it." Sam sniffed a bit before raising an eyebrow.

"How many drinks have you had?" she asked.

"This is my first one," Danny lied. Sam stared at him, narrowing her eyes. "Okay, my second beer." Not technically a lie.

"Danny, you need to pace yourself," Sam scolded. "We've been here like five minutes."

"Chill, Sam, I'll be fine!" Danny insisted. Sam grabbed him by the cheeks with a hand, forcing him to look at her.

"You better be," she lightly threatened. "I'm not babysitting you." Danny's cheeks flushed, and she let go.

"You won't have to babysit me," Danny insisted. "I just wanted to come check on you and bring you a beer. I'll leave you alone, okay?" He shifted to get up. Sam sighed.

"Danny, I'd love to be with you, but I'm not going to babysit you being a drunken idiot," Sam told him. "If you pace yourself, you can stay. But if you just wanna binge drink, go be with the other idiots." Danny flashed a weak smile.

"But aren't I your idiot?" he tried to playfully tease.

"...Yeah," she reluctantly admitted. Danny beamed at her.

"I'll see you ladies later," Danny spoke, and he got up. He took a few steps back, pointing to them. "We'll have lots of fun."

Sam rolled her eyes, waving him off. She returned her attention to her friend. Paulina already had her phone out again, turning it on and leaning in.

"So, this is what I ended up ordering, but look at this, I think you'd love this," Paulina told her, and she scrolled a bit. Sam's eyes widened in curiosity as she saw the suggested item.

"Oooo," she cooed in interest as she took a drink.

* * *

"Yeah, I'm still deciding between Amity Park and Northwestern," Paulina told Sam. The goth was nodding as she listened, leaned back as they sat together at a small table "Cause I would love to stay local, I could be close to family, and I like their program, but I also kinda wanna get out, yaknow? I've never lived anywhere outside of Amity, and Northwestern is still pretty close enough."

"I totally feel that. My mom's really pushing for me to go to her school, to keep up the Manson tradition," Sam replied. Paulina took another sip of their drink. "But it's so far away, I dunno. I want some space from my parents, but I also wanna stay close to my friends and grandma."

"Oh, that all girls school in England?" Paulina asked. Sam hummed a yes as she popped an Oreo into her mouth. "Ugh, I sooo think you should go! It's such a dream come true, to go to England and see all the cute British boys and stuff!" Sam smiled in amusement.

"Yeah, it could be cool, but I don't wanna go just because my mom and grandma both went," she explained. "It needs to be the right place for me."

"Yeah, I get that. I really need to pick the better program, which is honestly Amity, but I dunno yet. I need to talk to my mom about it," Paulina hummed as she ate a few chips from a bag between them. "I want her advice. I trust her opinion more than anybody's."

"Yeah, I normally talk to my grandma about it, but she's actually on my mom's side with this and is all for me to go to England," Sam explained. "She wants what's best for me, and that school has a great program, but just…" Sam's fingers played idly with the Oreo packaging. England had one of the top programs in the world, a reputation that carried heavily. She could easily get into graduate school after. Not that APU wasn't impressive either, it also boasted as a top school. She wouldn't have to leave her friends and family for a school in an entirely new country, even if she was fairly familiar with it from childhood vacations. And Tucker and Danny both already committed to Amity Park University. Leave them to do all the ghost hunting without her? Only seeing them on holiday breaks? Could she really do it? "I dunno. I have only a week left to decide."

"You'll make the right call," Paulina assured her. She leaned off to the side, looking at something behind Sam with a small smile. "Looks like your boyfriend's having an excellent time."

"He's not my boyfriend," Sam insisted with a sigh. She didn't want to even bother turning around. Paulina gave that skeptical hum Sam was too familiar with. "I mean it."

"Hey Sam!" Danny called out to her. Sam refused to turn around. She could already tell just by his voice that he was heavily buzzed, and that the thumping on the floor was him stumbling over to her.

"You never know," Paulina replied in a sing-song tone.

"Hey Sam," Danny's voice slurred near her. "I got a secret." She rolled her eyes as she felt Danny lean into her until his breath was on her ear. "I'm Danny Phantom."

"I know. I was there," she deadpanned. It was going to be an incredibly long night. She put a hand on his chest and made him take a step back. "You don't need to tell me."

"You were there?" Danny sounded absolutely amazed. "Why didn't you stop me? It hurt."

An immense wave of guilt washed over her, and Sam finished off her drink instead of answering. She grabbed the package of Oreos and chips from the table. Paulina got the hint, and she grabbed the bottle they were splitting. Danny had, thankfully, immediately gotten distracted by one of the jocks offering the half-ghost a chance to play beer pong with them.

"Come on, let's get some air," Sam suggested. She pushed a can of beer to Danny, who happily took the distraction. He had it for less than a second when he had opened the can, already half-choking as she could hear one of the guys cheer him on as he mindlessly chugged.

"What did he mean by that?" Paulina questioned Sam. Sam just shrugged half-heartedly as they walked out. "Do you know why he gets into this Danny Phantom thing?"

"Well uh, I mean Phantom's a superhero," Sam lied. The two found a new seat, a free spot on the outdoor couch, and they plopped down together. Paulina offered Sam the drink, who shook her head. Paulina shrugged and took a drink herself. "What dumb teenage boy wouldn't wanna be like that?"

"Yeah, that's fair," Paulina nodded. She crossed a leg over her other one, taking another longer drink. "I'm still sad that I never got to date Phantom. I'd give anything for just one night out on the town with Phantom."

Sam's heart twisted angrily. Yeah, Paulina was her best girl friend, and she didn't know of course, but she always got that instant gut reaction. It went away instantly, though it always left her with that sense of guilt. She knew Danny liked Paulina too. They'd likely get along great together, had they just had the opportunity. Paulina always told Sam that she'd never try to take Fenton away from her, but Phantom was a whole other possible story…

"You and every other girl in Amity," was all Sam could think to say. This didn't make her feel any better.

"Heeey!"

Sam smiled warmly at Star as the blonde came over, Tucker in tow. She was holding onto his hand. Star never drank much, and Tucker always paced himself until it hit after midnight, and she welcomed the still-fairly-sober company. Tucker sat down on the other side of Sam, and Star slipped onto his lap.

"Hey Starshine!" Paulina cooed happily, reaching out to hold Star's hand as soon as she sat. "Having fun?"

"Yeah, we played beer pong a bit, but Tucker's a bad shot," Star replied. Tucker frowned.

"Hey!" he complained. Star raised an eyebrow. "Eh, it's not a lie."

"Do you wanna play later?" Star asked the pair.

"Yeah! That sounds fun!" Paulina agreed eagerly. Sam nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, that'd be cool," she echoed.

"Saaam," Danny called out to her, and she sighed tiredly. He ran at her, stopping just in front of her. The goth didn't even flinch. "I'm Danny Phantom!"

"Shut the fuck up and go pass out already," she scowled at him, grasping his face in a hand and pushing him back. "Go upstairs and take a nap."

"I'm not tired," his voice sounded garbled. "I gotta pee."

"You're potty trained," Sam reminded him, and she lightly pushed him in the direction of the bathroom.

"Can I sit with you?" he asked.

"After you go pee," Sam told him. She pointed to the bathroom, before waving her hand at him. "Go."

"Where do I go?" he whined. Sam sighed heavily. Tucker patted Star's leg, and she stood up, immediately taking his spot as he got up.

"Come on, I gotcha man," Tucker patted Danny's shoulder, motioning for him to follow. Danny eagerly tagged along as the two went back inside the house.

"So, how are you and Tucker?" Sam asked Star. The blonde reached for the bottle the couple had been sharing, taking a sip. Paulina motioned for her to pass it to her, and she did.

"Really good, he's super sweet," she replied. "Tucker's going to APU, so we'll still be able to see each other a lot."

Sam remembered that Star had decided to go to the local community college, to save money, along with Valerie and Dash. Tucker had decided on APU, same with Danny. They both had already been able to pick each other as roommates, while she, a bit shamefully, was still trying to pick between England and Amity Park.

"Are you guys official yet?" Paulina asked. She took a long drink, offering it to Sam. She declined it for now.

"No, not yet," she confessed. "I've been waiting for him to officially ask me, but I think I might have to make the first move."

"Do it," Sam immediately encouraged. "It's the twenty-first century, make your move."

"If that's the case, when are you going to make a move on Danny?" Star lightly challenged with a joking smile. Sam flushed.

"He's not interested," Sam insisted. "We're just best friends."

"Noo, he's totally interested," Paulina insisted. "You see the puppy eyes he gives you? That's such love right there."

"Shut up," Sam scowled.

"He sooo does," Star agreed. "Whenever he sees you, he just does that thing where he lights up. It's honestly so adorable."

Sam could feel her cheeks burning harder. Luckily, the embarrassment party was cut short by Tucker and Danny's return. The second he saw her, the halfa, indeed, seemed to light up.

"Hey, I missed you," Danny told her. Sam smiled softly. Despite his obvious heavy buzz, he was still pretty sweet.

"I missed you too," she replied.

"Hey, Tucker? Let's go get some of that fruity hard soda," Star suggested. Tucker held his hand out to her, and she used it to pull herself to her feet. Paulina stood up too.

"Yeah, I'm gonna check in on Ash and Britney," Paulina agreed. Paulina motioned for Danny to come to her, and he did. "Here, Danny, you can take my seat."

She grabbed him by the shoulders, guiding him to take a seat next to Sam. He happily plopped down, and Paulina gave a sly smile to the pair before she slipped off into the crowd.

And suddenly, it felt like nobody else was there. Danny gave a soft exhale, and he immediately leaned into her, wrapping his arms around her. She did the same, hugging him. He always smelled good. Even though now she could clearly smell alcohol, there was the familiar, comforting cologne.

"I'm sorry," he said. "About all the quick drinking, I just...I need it to let people know." He gave a hiccup. She rolled her eyes.

"You don't really need to be telling people about being Danny Phantom anyway," she gently reminded him. "It's a secret, remember?" He stared at her, face blank. Head empty, void of thoughts.

"What's a secret?"

"...Nevermind."

She leaned back, against the armrest, taking Danny with her. He shifted, snuggling into her. Sam hummed, running her fingers idly through his hair.

"Did you pick school?" Danny asked. A pang of guilt.

"...No," she confessed.

"Oh." He didn't say it, but she could clearly hear the disappointment. They sat in silence.

"Hey, lovebirds," Kwan's cheerful voice interrupted them. Unlike their younger years, neither bothered to jump away or really fight it, instead just glancing up at the jock as he came over. His hands each clutched two bottles of beer, and he extended one out in offering to them.

Danny eagerly snatched one up, and Sam accepted the other with a short "thanks". He unwrapped himself from her in order to untwist the tap, Sam copying him with her own bottle. Instead of taking a drink immediately, he held the bottle up to her.

"Cheers?" he asked. Sam smiled, mirroring him and lightly clinking her glass to his.

"Cheers," she replied. Sam took a long sip, eying Danny as the halfa threw his head back and chugged as much as he possibly could in a single setting. Idiot. Stealing a glance at Dash, she saw that he too, was taking a long drink from his own beer.

"You guys wanna come play?" Kwan questioned.

"No thanks, I'm not really into beer pong," Sam declined, taking another sip. Danny gave a loud, disgusting burp, followed by a quiet apology.

"No, truth or dare," Kwan told her. Sam raised an eyebrow at him. "We accidentally broke the beer pong table." Danny stared at him.

"What?" Danny asked. Kwan's cheeks flushed a bit.

"Dash and Dale got into a fight," he explained. "Dash bodyslammed Dale into it, to be specific. So we're gathering some folks for truth or dare." Danny gave an enthusiastic nod.

"Yeah! Come'on Sammy!" he chirped. He snapped to his feet, only to wobble a bit, shifting his foot to gain balance before holding a hand out to Sam. "This will be the perfect time opportunity to tell people, ya know? That I'm Danny Phantom." She sighed heavily, and Kwan snorted in amusement.

"Man, I can already tell that you've had plenty," he lightly teased. "We'll be able to get some really juicy secrets out of you."

"Danny, this isn't a good idea," Sam grumbled, pressing the bottle to her lips. This time, she let herself take a long, long drink.

"Nothing's a good idea but we're all gonna die," Danny told her. Sam sighed. She held up a finger to signal for him to wait. The goth leaned back into the pillows and took another long drink, continuing until the bottle was empty.

She gave a small gasp for air as she finally swallowed the last bit of cheap beer. Danny stared at her, impressed and grinning wide, a hand held out to her. She set the drink on the coffee table before taking his hand and allowing for him to pull her to her feet. As she stood, her head rushed lightly. Ah yeah. Now the alcohol was truly and finally setting into a nice buzz. He squeezed her hand, and she smiled. The warmth of alcohol made her cheeks flush hard, and a content happiness set in as they followed Kwan further into the backyard, into the gardens where there was a small wooden gazebo, with two oversized couches facing opposite each other and a loveseat in between them. The seating was arranged around a table that had various drinks on it, the middle of the table meant for a mini fire, but instead was full of ice and beers.

Tucker was there with Star, and to Sam's surprise, the two had decided to switch to heavier drinking earlier than normal, as they were both taking turns taking light drinks from a bottle of harder liquor, with Paulina on the other side of Star with her own drink, a bottle of whiskey, on one of the couches. Dash across from them on the other couch next to Dale, evidence of their fight apparent in Dale's black eye and Dash's bandaged hand. They had already made up apparently, sharing light conversation over their beers. Kwan plopped down next to Dash.

With the couches full, Sam smoothed her skirt out before taking a seat. Danny reached into the makeshift cooler to grab one of the beers. He glanced behind him at Sam, silently holding one up. She nodded, and he grabbed a second one before taking the seat next to her. They both immediately cracked open their drinks.

"So, how's this going to work?" Danny asked before he took a long gulp.

"Okay, so, how it'll go, is that we'll go in order of asker to truth or darer," Star explained. "Meaning like, I'll ask Tucker truth or dare, and when his turn's over, he's going to ask somebody truth or dare, they answer, and then they ask."

"Sounds good enough," Dash nodded. "Who's first?"

"You should go," Kwan told him. "Your party." Dash smirked.

"Alright then. Ummmm," he feigned indecision while he locked his attention onto Danny as he was taking a drink. "Fenturd. Truth or dare." Danny quickly swallowed.

"Dare!" Danny boomed with a light cough, patting his chest as liquid nearly went down the wrong pipe. "I'm not a damn coward."

"Tell Sam how you feel."

"I." Danny paused for a moment as he stared at Dash for a moment. He finally broke contact to take a drink from his beer, side glancing at Sam before letting out a small burp. "'Scuse me. But uh…..I feel…" His words came out clear but drunkenly slow. "I feel like I might be developing a new power." Everybody stared at him.

"...What?" Star questioned.

"Like, a new, uhhhh, fucking, ghost power," Danny explained. Sam closed her eyes, sighing deeply. She didn't even get anxiety anymore when he confessed that anymore to anybody who would listen. "Cause you know I'm Danny fucking Phantom, I can do that stuff."

"Oh my god, shut up about being Danny Phantom," Sam scowled at him.

"Danny, you're clearly alive," Paulina reminded him, sounding a little tired. A small glance around, and nobody seemed to ever believe the drunk halfa. Least the secret was safe. "Now ask a truth or dare."

"Sam, truth or dare," Danny asked. He didn't take any time to pick somebody. She shrugged.

"Truth," she replied.

"Do you like me?" he asked. She instantly shot him a warm smile.

"Of course I do, you're one of my best friends." To her surprise, he made a bit of a face, but he didn't say anything. "Um, Paulina. Truth or dare."

"Truth," she answered. Sam took a moment to think of a question.

"Do you still actually like the ghost boy, like a crush?" she asked. Paulina hummed thoughtfully, twirling some of her long hair around her fingers.

"Sorta," she confessed. "I mean, like...I definitely do, but I don't? If that makes sense? I really like who I think he is, but also whenever I like, sit and think and kinda daydream about a future with him, I realize that I don't...ya know." She shrugged her shoulders. "Really know who he is, whether or not we can really get along. We've never really been able to have a real date or anything, or even a real conversation. I really like him, but I think it's just more of a celebrity crush than say like, the kind of crush I'd have on somebody from school."

"Makes sense," Sam commented lightly, but the answer brought an intense relief she wasn't expecting. She lightly tuned out Paulina asking Dale, focusing instead on lightly swirling her drink around in the can as she leaned back.

Danny had finished his drink and got up to get another one before he sat back down. He opened it and leaned back into the seat as well as into her. She rested her head against his shoulder as she took another sip. His arm slipped under her back to wrap around the goth in a loose hug. He was warm and comfortable, and she zoned out until she heard Tucker's voice.

"Danny," Tucker called to her companion. The drunk halfa gave a wave to acknowledge him. "Truth or dare."

"Truth," he slurred.

"Do you have any feelings for Sam?" he asked. Sam glared at Tucker. He smiled innocently back at her.

"I have a lot of feelings about Sam," Danny replied, strangely cryptic for somebody who had already drank so much he probably shouldn't even be awake still. Maybe it was the ghost in him.

"Sam, truth or dare," Danny asked her once more. She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Truth."

"Come on, pick dare," he whined. Sam rolled her eyes, finishing off her drink.

"No, I don't trust any of you," she replied.

"Ple-ase!"

"Ugh, fine. Dare." Sam saw Danny instantly perk up.

"Kiss me," he requested. Her heart skipped a beat.

"You're drunk," she accused him. He scowled.

"So are you!" he argued. She frowned.

"I'm buzzed, you're drunk," she argued back.

"Are you lovebirds going to fight or kiss?" Dash interrupted.

The couple glanced at Dash before staring at each other. Sam sighed lightly, and she shifted so that she could plant a quick kiss on his cheek. She expected him to be a bit annoyed with such a light peck, but it was the opposite. He seemed to glow. She knew her cheeks were probably red hot, she could feel it, and she focused pretending to have more drink to sip. Danny gave her a soft kiss against her temple.

"Um," Sam cleared her throat. "Tucker. Truth or dare."

"Truth," the geek replied quickly. She smirked.

"How do you feel about Star?" she pressed. It was time for a little bit of light payback.

"Fantastic!" Tucker exclaimed. Star visibly brightened at the response. "A tad horny, but mostly fantastic." Star immediately rolled her eyes, her ears turning red as Sam snorted in amusement. Tucker was definitely heading into drunk territory.

"God, what a mood," Danny agreed, finishing off his drink, only to choke on it and cough hard. "Not about Star I mean, not Star. She's great but I'm not horny for her."

"Good," Tucker grinned. "Now uhhh, Dale! Truth or dare, man!"

"Dare!" Dale boomed. Sam rolled her eyes, instantly tuning them out. She glanced at Danny.

"Hey," she spoke up quietly. Danny gave a noise of acknowledgement as he reached out for another drink. "Why did you dare me to kiss you? That's weird." Danny didn't reply, simply opening the can. Sam plucked it from his hands, taking a drink from it. Danny frowned at her.

"That's mine," he complained, completely ignoring her question.

"Don't ignore me," she scowled at him. "Just tell me the truth." Danny glared at her. She finally sighed, taking another sip before handing him the beer. He smiled, and he chugged the rest of it.

"Danny! Truth or dare, dude!" Dash's voice snapped them back to attention.

"Dare!" Danny nearly yelled. He crushed the can, tossing it behind him and into the yard. Sam punched him in the shoulder.

"You asshole, don't litter," she snapped. Danny flinched, rubbing his shoulder, instantly standing up to go and slowly collect the trash. She watched him, and she smiled in satisfaction as he didn't just pick up his own can, but a few other that laid nearby.

"Tell Sam a secret of yours, something you always wanted to tell her," Dash grinned. Danny visibly flinched, tossing the cans into a nearby wastebin. He gave a small shrug.

"Sam knows all my secrets," he mumbled stubbornly.

"There's gotta be one that she doesn't know about," Paulina lightly pressed. Sam scowled at her. She shot her a silent glare, one that clearly said to Don't. But the popular teen pretended to not notice the look.

Danny took his seat once more next to her, and the first thing Sam noticed was that he had begun to sweat. That was...unusual. It was fairly warm out, but Danny had always just cooled himself down if he was overheating. A perk of ice powers. And he normally didn't ever just forget that. Not unless he was nervous. But why would he be nervous.

"No," he insisted after some brief silence. "Sam knows basically everything."

"Basically everything?" Sam spoke up. Danny froze upon hearing her voice, snapping his head to her as if his drunken self was completely shocked to see her there. He probably was. "What don't I know about?"

"N-nothing," he said quickly. Sam gave him a dirty look. Her hurt feelings were only intensified by her buzzed state, and she stood up.

"What are you keeping from me?" she demanded to know. "We tell each other everything."

"It's nothing!" Danny defended himself. He placed a hand on the arm of his seat to keep him steady as he stood. "Sam, it's nothing, I do tell you everything!"

"Obviously not, if it's that obvious to everybody!" Sam could feel tears beginning to well up, though she refused to cry. "Just tell me. I love you, you're my best friend, you're supposed to be able to tell me anything and everything."

The guilt was all the confirmation she needed that he really was hiding something from her. His face dropped, and he stared at the floor.

"I...I uh…" Danny's voice stammered out, the stutter barely making his words recognizable. "I'm Danny Phantom."

Sam threw her hands up in annoyance. She took a careful step forward, her head a bit woozed, but after the first step, she felt confident in storming towards the house. Somebody was hot on her heels, and they reached out to grab her wrist. Sam instantly knew by the touch that it was Paulina, and she glanced to confirm. Indeed, it was her, and she silently walked with Sam to the house. Sam sniffled as she opened the sliding glass door.

"Why do I even like that fucking idiot?" she bemoaned. An empty table and chairs sat in front of her, and she plopped into one of the chairs. Sam Manson would never cry at a party, and it wouldn't start now. Especially not over a boy. She sniffled again, but no tears fell.

Paulina just nodded sympathetically, and she slipped into the seat across from her. Sam gestured towards the bottle in her hand, and Paulina gave a short nod. She pulled two shot glasses lying on the table to her, pouring them each a shot.

"Cheer up, girl," she comforted. "Danny likes you. I know he does. And you like him because he's a big sweetheart."

"Sam!" Danny's voice called for her. Paulina giggled, and Sam groaned. Speaking of the halfa...

"I can't do this," Sam complained, and she took the shot in front of her. "He does this every time. He gets shitfaced then follows me around like a puppy because he wants to tell me about how he's Danny Phantom."

"I think it's sweet he wants to be with you so much," Paulina teased. "Especially after our game earlier. You heard him." Paulina tilted her head, giving a soft smile. "He really likes you. Even if he couldn't say it."

"It'd be sweeter if he didn't smell like he took a bath in whiskey," Sam sighed. "And was actually sober when he says those things. I dunno why he gets like this." Paulina hummed sympathetically, pouring the goth another shot before pouring one for herself from the bottle.

"Dash does weirder things when drunk," Paulina shrugged. "I mean, it's a weird confession, but could be worse. And you know what they say, drunk words are sober thoughts."

"Sam!"

Sam turned in her chair, seeing Danny standing dumbly in the doorway of the room. He looked like a lost puppy, looking around hopefully. The drunk halfa visibly brightened when he saw her.

"Sam!" He waved his hand wildly, overly eager to see her. Sam sighed, giving a brief, light wave back before returning her attention to Paulina. She held up her shot glass, Paulina mirroring her action.

"To dumbass boys," Paulina joked, and Sam snorted in amusement.

"To dumbass boys," she echoed. "For some reason, we love them." Paulina smiled, nodding in agreement. They clinked their glasses together before taking their shots.

Sam felt a presence right behind her, and soon, Danny's arms wrapped loosely around her neck and shoulders. He rested his chin on the top of her head, and she flushed as the heat from the alcohol and Danny both began to settle.

"Hey Sam," his voice was finally softer and at a normal level. "I need to tell you something." Sam gave a disinterested hum.

"Oh, but I thought I knew everything," she snapped at him.

"N-no, I mean." His words were incredibly slurred and slow to come out. She didn't even bother looking back at him. It was only a matter of time before he got distracted by something and wandered off. As he usually did. "I'm really sorry. About everything, you know I just." He paused, and she could feel him shuffling from foot to foot behind her as his forearms rested on the back of her chair. "I don't know how else to get the courage to tell you, ya know? I know I normally tell you everything but it's just, you know. Sometimes words are just." Danny didn't say anything for several seconds. And then it finally came out. "I love you."

"I know, go fucking pass ou-" Sam cut herself off. She stared at Paulina, who was staring at Danny in absolute surprise. The look only confirmed Danny's confession. "What?"

"I love you, Sam," Danny's voice was a bit quieter, though it still slurred. "You're my favorite person and my best friend."

"...Danny go pass out already," Sam's voice came out a bit harsh. Her heart was pounding with anxiety, and it didn't help that Paulina was staring at them intensely. It was just drunk talk. It had to be just drunk talk. He had been doing this all night.

Danny whined, and he shifted. She felt his forehead rest against her shoulder, his black hair in her peripheral vision. Sam reached up to lightly stroke his hair. "Danny." Her voice was warningly. Danny gave another high pitched noise of annoyance.

"Will you come with me?" he asked. "I wanna be with you. I don't want to see you go to England."

"Aww," Paulina's sickeningly sweet voice made Sam feel her own face turn boiling hot, and not from the alcohol this time, and shoot her a glare. Sam lightly patted the top of his head.

"I'll go tuck you in," she sighed. "Let me up." Danny didn't move for a moment, but soon he finally let go. Sam smoothed her dress out before standing up. She took Danny's hand. "Come on." Like an eager puppy, Danny happily tagged along.

He wobbled a bit as he walked, keeping a firm grasp on her hand. She squeezed his as she guided him through the crowd and towards the bedrooms. It hit her as she got to the first steps how this might look. But she didn't really have time to take it into consideration. She felt (and smelled) Danny's breath on her ear once more.

"You know," he breathed. God he smelled like he brushed his teeth with tequila. "I'm Danny Phantom." Sam rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, I know."


End file.
